Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

April showers will soon taper off and the warmth of May is in sight. You can shake off winters chill, help raise money for a local charity and get a history lesson by taking a home or garden tour in your area.

Take note: Some of the tours listed below are on foot, while others involve driving. Check the organizers Web site for more information .

April

Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage: Prince Georges County This home and garden tour will raise funds for the Prince Georges County Historical Society and an effort to create signs for the historic sites of Upper Marlboro. April 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 410-821-6933. http://www.mhgp.org. $30 in advance, $35 the day of the tour.

Historic Garden Week: Old Town Alexandria Co-hosted by the Hunting Creek Garden Club and the Garden Club of Alexandria, this walking tour includes homes from the late 18th and early 19th centuries on South Lee and Duke Streets. April 26, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 804-644-7776. http://www.vagardenweek.org. $35 in advance, $40 the day of the tour.

Historic Garden Week: Clarke County-Winchester This tour features four homes in Millwood and White Post. It is co-hosted by the Winchester-Clarke Garden Club and the Little Garden Club of Winchester. April 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and April 27, 1-5 p.m. 804-644-7776. http://www.vagardenweek.org. $25 in advance, $30 the day of the tour.

Historic Garden Week: Middleburg and Upperville Of the five historic properties featured on this tour, two predate the Civil War. The tour is co-hosted by the Leesburg Garden Club and the Fauquier-Loudoun Garden Club. April 27, 1-5 p.m. and April 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 804-644-7776. http://www.vagardenweek.org. $35 in advance, $40 the day of the tour.

Historic Garden Week: Fairfax County-Historic Vienna Hosted by the Garden Club of Fairfax, this tour covers four homes and gardens in Viennas oldest neighborhood, Ayr Hill, and Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. April 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 804-644-7776. http://www.vagardenweek.org. $25 in advance, $30 the day of the tour.

Takoma Park House and Garden Tour Takoma Parks 41st annual tour, titled Spirit of Holly Avenue, will showcase homes between Eastern and Philadelphia avenues that reflect the evolution of Takoma Park from the 1880s through post-World War II. May 4, 1-5 pm. 240-393-6060. http://www.historictakoma.org. $18 in advance, $20 the day of the tour.

May

Originally posted here:
Local home and garden tours

MANILA, PhilippinesNow, we are all home.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Wednesday welcomed back thousands of parishioners and devotees and a host of special guests and VIPs to the storied Manila Cathedral, resplendent with its glimmering lights, shiny marbles and fresh paint, after two years of massive repair work and restoration.

In his homily at the concelebrated Holy Mass to mark the reopening of the cathedral, Tagle stressed that the basilica, which has been repeatedly destroyed by earthquake and fire in its colorful history spanning four centuries, continued to rise because of the peoples generosity and expertise.

Presidential family

We cannot reconstruct, rebuild and strengthen the church without generosity of the spirit, he told the guests, which included President Aquino and his sisters Kris Aquino, Ballsy Aquino-Cruz and Viel Aquino Dee, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and wife Loi Ejercito and Senate President Franklin Drilon.

Tagle also thanked those who lent their expertise in rebuilding and restoring the 16th-century cathedral and the nameless people whom he had encountered on the street, giving him their share of donation as small as P50 just to help in the reconstruction of the church.

The cathedral was closed to the public starting Feb. 7, 2012, to make way for the work that took more than two years. The cathedrals origin date back to the 16th century. The endeavor, the first to be made on the structure since 1958, cost roughly P120 million.

In an assessment made two years ago, cracks were noted on key sections of the basilica, which compromised its structural integrity. It also revealed that some of its columns and beams did not meet the standards set by the 2010 National Structural Code of the Philippines.

It just dawned on me that I took canonical possession of the Archdiocese of Manila on Dec. 12, 2011, and one of my first decisions as a new archbishop was to close my cathedral, he said, drawing laughter from the churchgoers.

To rise again and again

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Tagle: We are all home, in the house of our God

Prostitution, drug related arrests made in McCracken County Prostitution, drug related arrests made in McCracken County

Updated: Thursday, April 10 2014 2:22 PM EDT2014-04-10 18:22:31 GMT

Several people face drug-related charges and one person faces prostitution charges in McCracken County, Kentucky.

Several people face drug-related charges and one person faces prostitution charges in McCracken County, Kentucky.

Updated: Thursday, April 10 2014 6:53 AM EDT2014-04-10 10:53:05 GMT

A Harrison County affidavit WLOX obtained said a young girl's diary detailed the relationship between former officer Patrick Klis and a 15-year-old girl. WLOX also found online pictures of Klis and a young girl.

WLOX News has uncovered new details about what led investigators to arrest a Long Beach Police officer for three counts of sexual battery involving a minor. A Harrison County affidavit WLOX obtained said a young girl's diary detailed the relationship between former officer Patrick Klis and a 15-year-old girl. WLOX also found online pictures of Klis and a young girl.

Updated: Tuesday, April 20 2010 11:21 PM EDT2010-04-21 03:21:00 GMT

31 people are in trouble with the law after a three day prostitution sting in Richmond.Police told NBC12 they targeted specific areas where residents and business owners complained about the illegal activity.

Updated: Thursday, April 10 2014 10:41 AM EDT2014-04-10 14:41:10 GMT

Excerpt from:
KYTC: KY 2209 in Hickman Co. to close for cross drain replacement

Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, pictured in October 2011.

Image: Charles Dharapak/Associated Press

By Chris Taylor2014-04-10 23:08:00 UTC

Kathleen Sebelius has decided to step down from her Cabinet post as the head of Health and Human Services, according to White House officials and a replacement is already waiting in the wings.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will shortly be nominated by President Obama as the next Health and Human Services secretary, reports the New York Times.

Sebelius is 65, and officials told the Times that she's stepping down of her own accord. But it can't have failed to escape anyone's attention that Sebelius presided over the disastrous initial roll-out of Healthcare.gov, the online insurance exchange mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

The site's open enrollment period ended last week, with more than 7.5 million U.S. residents newly signed up for health insurance. The timing of Sebelius' stepping down, in the warm afterglow of that announcement, allows the administration to take credit for it while also removing the Secretary associated with Healthcare.gov's earlier problems.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell in March 2013.

Image: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

More:
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Resigns

The downstairs interior of the former inn at Navarro-by-the-Sea as of April 7, above. The 1860s building is being restored through efforts by the nonprofit Navarro-by-the-Sea Center. Lori Kaye, below, explains some of the challenges of restoring old, damaged trim. Most of the upstairs still requires extensive restoration work. Matthew Reed photos.

Restoration of the interior of Fletcher's Inn at Navarro River State Beach is well underway.

Jim Martin, Navarro-by-the-Sea Center board president, said Rosenthal-Thornton Construction of Fort Bragg had finished critical stabilization work to save the inn last fall. Among the repairs completed were major demolition, lead abatement, seismic retrofitting, a new perimeter foundation, reconstruction of the original front porch, restoring the siding, installing replica windows for the downstairs and repainting the exterior.

Then it was time to start on the interior. At the end of 2013, an anonymous donation allowed Navarro-by-the-Sea Center to hire restoration specialist Lori Kaye of Elk to work on the downstairs interior of the building, Martin said. Her work included lead paint containment, closing off openings in walls from the stabilization work, installing missing trim, fabricating a window and repainting.

Much of the interior paneling remains intact. Kaye said numerous coats of varnish were required to restore the one-inch thick tongue-and-groove knotty pine.

The original redwood bar is still intact and will be refinished, too, Kaye said.

The historic inn was both built in the 1860s and, with the mill house, is one of the only remaining structures from the original town of Navarro that sprang up around the mill at the mouth of the Navarro River.

Construction

Stacked in the room that had once been the kitchen were several 2-by-12 boards that had been used as floor joists before construction of the new concrete foundation.

Kaye said the former inn was constructed without blocking or rim joists. Blocking is the series of pieces of wood between studs. Rim joists go around the entire perimeter of a house and are connected to the ends of the floor joists to structurally tie in all the sides of the building to the foundation, she said.

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Historic inn restoration progresses

04/10/2014

The Stinson Beach Preschool received approval from the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District trustees in a unanimous vote Tuesday to install a portable classroom on the K-2campus.

Were very thrilled, said Susan Tacherra, the preschools longtime director, and now we can start raising the $115,000 to complete the project. When asked where she would begin, Ms. Tacherra jokingly asked, Do you have any ideas?

She said the school plans to approach the community and alumni for support and will seek out grants. The preschool currently serves 18 families with a Montessori-inspired creative curriculum. The school district will be charging a monthly rent of $10 for the next three years, starting this July.

The portable classrooma 40-foot by 24-foot box with wood siding and carpeted floors rented for $6,600 annuallyis scheduled for installation on June 25, and the new playground and replanted garden will be fenced in by mid-August.

I will be a contractor this summer, not only the teacher and director, Ms. Tacherra said. Its going to be a steep learning curve. The preschool is still awaiting approval of permits from the county, the last hoop we have to jump through, she added.

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Stinson preschool approved for mobile classroom

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